I think this is a very unusual passage. Luke 13:1-9 is kind of an unvarnished window (now that’s a horrible mixed metaphor) into Jesus’ ordinary interactions. Why do I think it is “unvarnished”? Well so much of the Gospel narrative is made up of identifiable types of scenes: the healing, the teaching time, the highly […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, 2nd Sunday of Lent, Luke 13:31-35
The Gospel text for the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Luke 13:31-35) directs our attention toward Christ’s coming passion – albeit without being anywhere nearly as explicit about the point as he was earlier in Luke’s Gospel. Plus he compares himself to a chicken. Who would want to miss that? Luke 13:31-35 These lines are easy […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, 1st Sunday of Lent, Luke 4:1-13
On the first Sunday of Lent we take a step backward in the flow of Luke’s narrative to look at a very lenten issue: temptation. The Gospel text is Luke 4:1-13, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Luke 4:1-13 Jesus’ three big temptations get all the attention, but a tiny little moment in the […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, Transfiguration, Luke 9:28-36
This Sunday Western Christianity celebrates the “Transfiguration.” The Revised Common Lectionary gives us the story from Luke 9:28-36, because it is “Year C” when Luke’s Gospel is the focus. Just Luke 9:28-36 for Me Please The lectionary includes an optional extension of the reading, Luke 9:37-43a. I’m not going to discuss it. In Luke’s chronology […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, 7th Sunday after Epiphany, Luke 6:27-38
The Gospel for the 7th Sunday after Epiphany (Luke 6:27-38) continues Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain.” It is the parallel to the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew but the two are different in content as well as in location. The one thing they have pretty much in common is that while a crowd, a multitude […]